Acknowledgments 



The present study is the second in a series which, when completed, 

 hopefully may provide the background for a better understanding of 

 the phenomenon of parasitic breeding in the Cuculidae. The first 

 paper in this series [Friedmann, 1964] dealt with the crested cuckoos, 

 forming the genus Clamator. The genus covered in the present paper 

 contains three times as many species as Clamator and occupies a 

 much wider portion ot the land areas of the Old World. It is the first 

 attempt to study all the glossy cuckoos as a group. In the past the 

 African species have been dealt with by specialists on African birds, 

 the Australian and Malaysian ones separately by other regional 

 students, and the Asiatic ones by still other writers. Until a compre- 

 hensive and comparative study of all of the glossy cuckoos was made, 

 it was impossible to compare meaningfully the known facts about 

 the life histories of these birds. 



As in the earlier study of Clamator, the attempted appraisal of 

 the phylogenetic relationships of the 12 species of Chrysococcyx 

 demanded careful examination of large amounts of preserved material 

 of each species. A research grant from the Frank M. Chapman Me- 

 morial Fund of the American Museum of Natural History enabled me 

 to spend 19 very productive da5'-s at the British Museum (Natural 

 History) in London and also to examine the extensive material in 

 the American Museum of Natural History. These two collections 

 comprise by far the bulk of the pertinent material. The specimens in 

 the United States National Museum in Washington were also studied. 

 To the custodians of these bird collections I express my thanks for 

 their cooperation in making these materials available to me. 



Museum study specimens were examined to ascertain the nature, 

 the frequency, and the distribution within and between the dozen 

 members of the genus of the types of plumage patterns, plumage 

 phases, and kinds and degrees of variation within these patterns and 

 phases. This survey was made with an eye to any phylogenetic 

 suggestions that might be adduced from the many hundreds of 

 specimens studied. 



By correspondence with the unfailingly cooperative curators of 

 their respective collections and, in a few instances, by loans of selected, 

 critical specimens, I have been able to make use of the data on per- 

 tinent material in the museums of Bulawayo, Durban, Nairobi, and 



